Phytic acid is found within the hulls of nuts, seeds, and grains.[2] In-home food preparation techniques can break down the phytic acid in all of these foods. Simply cooking the food will reduce the phytic acid to some degree. More effective methods are soaking in an acid medium, lactic acid fermentation, and sprouting.[17] (Wiki)

Rolled Oats

Also called old-fashioned or whole oats, rolled oats look like flat, irregularly round, slightly textured discs. When processed, the whole grains of oats are first steamed to make them soft and pliable, then pressed to flatten them.

Rolled oats cook faster than steel-cut oats, absorb more liquid, and hold their shape relatively well during cooking. In addition to be heated for a warm breakfast bowl, rolled oats are commonly used in granola bars, cookies, muffins, and other baked goods.

Instant oats can be used in place of rolled oats, although the cook time will be much less, and the final dish will not have as much texture.

Instant Oats

Also referred to as quick oats, instant oats are the most processed of the three oat varieties. They are pre-cooked, dried, and then rolled and pressed slightly thinner than rolled oats. They cook more quickly than steel-cut or rolled oats, but retain less of their texture, and often cook up mushy.

Health authorities from all over the world universally recommend increasing consumption of whole grains and legumes—beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils—for health promotion. But what about the phytates?

Phytate is a naturally occurring compound found in all plant seeds, meaning all beans, grains, nuts, and seeds, which over the decades has been badly maligned as a mineral absorption inhibitor. That’s why, for example, you hear advice to roast, sprout, or soak your nuts—to get rid of the phytates so we can absorb more minerals like calcium.

The concern about phytates and bone health arose from a series of laboratory experiments performed on puppies published in 1949, suggesting high phytate diets have a bone softening and anti-calcifying effect. Subsequent studies on rats, in which they fed them the equivalent of 10 loaves of bread a day, confirmed phytate’s status as a so-called anti-nutrient. But more recently, in the light of actual human data, phytate’s image has undergone a makeover.

If you put people on a high phytate diet and measure their calcium balance, their bodies appear to become accustomed to the extra phytate over time and it all worked out, but this study was done on only 3 people. So I was glad to see this study published, which asked the simple question, do people who avoid high phytate foods—legumes, nuts, and whole grains—have better bone mineral density? No, in fact just the opposite. Those that consumed more high-phytate foods had stronger bones, as measured in the heel, spine, and hip. The researchers conclude that dietary phytate consumption had protective effects against osteoporosis and that low phytate consumption should be considered an osteoporosis risk factor. This is consistent, with reports that phytate can inhibit the dissolution of bone similar to anti-osteoporosis drugs like Fosamax.

A follow-up study found the same thing: improved bone density in those that consumed the most phytates, but this is the most convincing study to date, actually measuring phytate levels flowing through women’s bodies and following bone mass over time. And women with the highest phytate levels had the lowest levels of bone loss in the spine, and the hip, and so no surprise that those who ate the most phytates were estimated to have a significantly lower risk of major fracture, and lower risk of hip fracture specifically.

This is thought to be in part because phytates help block the formation of bone-eating cells, and their bone-eating activity. You can see how much more bone is eaten away in the nonphytate group on the left.

Still need* to presoak dried beans (except lentils and peas) before cooking. Or, can use canned beans if you want to save yourself the hassle (Canned Beans or Cooked Beans?). Soaking nuts to get rid of phytate no longer makes much sense though.

*It takes time for the inner part of larger beans to rehydrate. Cook a kidney bean, or worse garbanzo bean without soaking, and you'll get a soft bean around a hard, unpalatable core.

There's also a potential benefit from releasing oligosaccharides into the soak water, reducing fermentation fuel for flatuence (though the same oligosaccharides also promote beneficial bacteria). This is best achieved by boiling briefly in ample water to disrupt the cell membranes, then soaking for hours (preferably overnight), and discarding the soak water.